Retailers shift Black Friday focus as shoppers' habits change

SWANSEA — Steven White was on the bus to the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth when he saw the revolution at work.

He noticed that most of his fellow passengers were on the phone. So he got curious and checked.

“People all around me were shopping,” he said. “Shopping hasn’t only moved online, it is increasingly moving to mobile.

“That trend is increasing.”

White is a professor of marketing and international business at UMass Dartmouth. He tracks the way people shop and spend money. More and more, they are doing that from the comfort of their home.

And retailers have noticed. Black Friday might never be the same.

“We do have an emphasis this year on online shopping,” said Mark Warren, manager of the Target store, 579 GAR Highway. “Our hours have changed, too. We are open at 6 a.m. rather than 1 a.m.”

Black Friday was briefly an American tradition, with crowds lining up before midnight to get sales being offered for an hour or two in the predawn hours immediately after Thanksgiving.

Stores are still gearing up. Target will have double its usual staff when it opens at 6 a.m. Friday. Walmart has special sales starting at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving and continuing all night and through the day.

All of those specials are available in stores or can be ordered online at both Target and Walmart.

In past years, shoppers have lined up before midnight outside Target, with the line stretching the length of the Plaza, reaching the door at Marshalls.

“I do expect a line this year,” Warren said. “I don’t know if it will be as long as it was in past years.

“We expect that our new hours will stop the lull we experienced in the morning and make the business steadier through the day, as well as more convenient for our customers and our staff.”

In 2016, Americans spent $12.6 billion shopping for the holidays, White said. Of that, 60 percent was in stores, 40 percent was online.

The projection for 2017 is slightly more than $13 billion, he said.

“Amazon is projected to win the season,” he said. “Next is Walmart. Third is up in the air, either Target or Best Buy.

“I see equity within the next five years, a 50-50 split with face-to-face shopping and online.”

More and more of that shopping will be a hybrid, he said. Walmart, especially, is leading the pack at allowing customers to shop online and pick up merchandise at the store.

“People go online first when they shop,” White said. “The integrated shipping, the ordering online and picking up at the store, will be the next crucial difference.

“It will be great for slackers like me.”

Despite the changes, Black Friday is still a big day at the stores, Warren said. Target is preparing to be busy all day.